Just two summers ago, the Timberwolves felt they needed to offer up a four-year contract to center Darko Milicic, who had averaged 8.3 points and 5.5 rebounds in 24 games with the team, in order to convince him to stay in Minnesota. Milicic had indicated he would be returning to Europe, but whether you call it foolishness or generosity, the Wolves and their oversize contract offer changed his mind.

Here we are a year-and-a-half later, and things have certainly changed. The Timberwolves are no longer handing out bulky contracts in desperation—now, they’re playing hardball with their four-year contracts. And winning.

FROM SI:

Minnesota was able to sign All-Star forward Kevin Love to a four-year contract worth $62 million on Wednesday, just ahead of the deadline for extensions for the draft class of 2008. This time, it was Love—after averaging 20.2 points and 15.2 rebounds last year—who wanted to commit long-term to the Timberwolves, hoping to sign a max five-year deal, as point guards Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook and Chicago’s Derrick Rose had done with their teams earlier this season. But the Timberwolves held firm on four years, seeking to maintain financial flexibility going forward.

“I was willing to make a commitment for five years,” Love told reporters. “They thought otherwise.”

They were right to do so. The Timberwolves’ commitment to Love should be contingent on winning, and as good as Love’s numbers have been individually—and as bad as the organization around him has been before this season—there is no avoiding the fact that Minnesota was 56-190 in Love’s first three years with the Wolves. He was an All-Star last year, but his team still went 17-65. Since 1971, only one player (Dwyane Wade, in his injury-plagued 2007-08 season) was an All-Star despite playing on that team with 17 wins or less. Only four other times in league history, going back to when the NBA had about half the teams, were players from teams as bad as Love’s chosen as All-Stars.

It makes sense, then, for the Timberwolves to exercise caution with this deal. Love has an option after his third year, which means he could hit free agency in 2015. The Timberwolves have begun to put a quality roster around Love, starting with rookie point guard Ricky Rubio and rookie forward Derrick Williams. General manager David Kahn has come under frequent criticism in recent years, but there is no doubt he finally has his team pointed in a promising direction.

That goes, too, for new coach Rick Adelman, who was considered a longshot to take the Minnesota job when the team first approached him this summer. But Adelman could see the potential in his team, and he has brought credibility and the kind of offensive creativity the team lacked under his predecessor, Kurt Rambis. Even if the Timberwolves don’t pull themselves into the playoff chase this year, the improvement has been obvious, and they could well be a playoff team by next season.

Love wants to be part of that. “I like the direction the team is headed,” he said. But much of the Timberwolves development will be dependent on whether Love becomes a winning player. Minnesota isn’t as desperate a team as it was even just 18 months ago, so it didn’t have to grovel at Love’s feet, begging him to take their max money. Rather, the Timberwolves were tough with Love, eager for him to prove he can be a winner. That shows how far they’ve come.